1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus for a disc-shaped recording medium. More particularly, it relates to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus for a disc-shaped recording medium, and a sound reproducing apparatus, in which information signals may be recorded on or reproduced from one of a plurality of disc-shaped recording media.
2. Background of the Invention
Recently, optical disc reproducing apparatus have become popular in addition to cassette decks or tuners, for automobile sound reproducing systems and are being diversified in their functions. The optical disc reproducing apparatus includes a magazine capable of containing multiple optical discs. A disc reproducing apparatus having a so-called disc exchange function, that is, capable of selectively reproducing the optical discs contained in the magazine, referred to hereinafter simply as a changer, has become predominant.
As an example, a magazine 201 of such changer, capable of containing six optical discs D therein, as shown in FIG. 1, is configured to accommodate six optical discs D so that the planar surfaces of the discs D lie horizontally with a vertical clearance from one another. The discs D are termed the first, second, and so forth, up to the sixth as counted from the bottom to the top of the magazine 201.
The changer includes an operating panel for effecting a variety of operations, such as the playback operation or the optical disc selecting operation, and a display unit for listing the number or the title of the discs D contained in the changer. The list display configuration is shown in FIG. 2, in which the discs D are indicated as "1", "2", . . . "6" as counted from the top to the bottom, thus in the reverse order to the arraying order of the discs D in the magazine, and the title of the optical disc bearing the associated number is also displayed.
In a changer capable of containing ten optical discs, the display is made in five rows in two columns, owing to the constraint in the display area of the display unit, as shown in FIG. 3. The left column is numbered 1 to 5, while the right column is numbered 6 to 10, and the title of the optical disc bearing the disc number is also displayed.
Recently, the number of the optical disc being reproduced is displayed in a unique color, or the number and the title of the disc is displayed with brightness inversion.
FIG. 4 shows another conventional display configuration for the display unit, according to which a number of marks M corresponding to the number of the optical discs D loaded in the changer magazine are displayed in a single transverse row at an upper portion of the display area. In addition, serial numbers are affixed to the marks so that the number of the loaded discs can be grasped easily.
If four optical discs D, instead of the six, are loaded in the magazine 201, the numbers of the marks for the discs not loaded in the magazine remain unlighted so that the state of loading of the discs in the magazine 201 can be grasped easily.
With the listing display configuration on the display unit of the conventional changer, the arraying order of the optical discs D in the magazine 201 shown in FIG. 1 does not correspond to the list display sequence shown in FIG. 2. Consequently, when a given optical disc D loaded in the magazine 201 is exchanged for another optical disc, the arraying sequence in the magazine 201 is different from the list display sequence on the display unit. Consequently, in effecting the disc exchange, the list display sequence needs to be checked in association with the arraying sequence in the magazine 201 by a laborious operation.
Meanwhile, the optical disc D to be displayed is directly selected using a ten-key selection area provided on the operating panel. However, when the user is driving a car, it is occasionally difficult to reach his or her hand to the operating panel for performing the selecting operation for the optical discs. Consequently, a remote control switch, for example, is used for performing the disc selecting operation.
The conventional switch of this kind is mainly of a joystick type in which a cursor is moved by a lever operation or of a push-button type provided with buttons having printed marks of .increment. or .gradient. on their surfaces.
An output signal from this switch is fed to a disc selecting mechanism selecting one of the optical discs D loaded in the magazine 201 and transfering it to the reproducing unit. When selecting the fourth disc D as counted from the first disc D, the lever is pushed upwards or the button having the printed mark .increment. is actuated, that is, the disc selecting operation is performed in the upward direction. However, the cursor indicating the direction of the selective operation is moved downwards, thus performing a movement opposite to the manual operating direction. The result is that the optical disc selecting operation is difficult to grasp and susceptible to a mistaken operation, while a lot of time is consumed until the user becomes accustomed to the sequence of the disc selecting operations.
The display configuration of the marks M on the display unit shown in FIG. 4 is not coincident with the array configuration of the optical discs D loaded in the changer magazine 201. For example, in the magazine 201 capable of containing six vertically stacked optical discs D, as shown in FIG. 1, the display configuration in the display region of the display plate is a horizontal array of a number of marks M corresponding to the number of the optical discs D loaded in the changer, as shown in FIG. 4. In such case, only the fourth optical disc D has a number coincident with the number of the mark M bearing the number "4". Consequently, the disc number of the optical discs D being reproduced can only be grasped based upon the number represented in the character shown on the mark M so that the optical disc being reproduced cannot be identified intuitively.
Although no impediments are raised when the changer is used in a chamber or the like, the changer operation becomes extremely troublesome if the user is driving a car and yet has to check the disc number of the optical disc D being reproduced by consulting the display plate. The result is that the changer is used less frequently and the consuming public feels less inclined to purchase the car-laden changer.
Moreover, in an audio reproducing apparatus, inclusive of the changer, mounted in a car compartment is designed so that a wide acoustic space is created in the narrow car compartment and a sound field processor is also included for improving the fixed position sense of the sound image by adjusting the sound balance outputted from the four speakers and the phase delay of the audio output.
In particular, the sound field processor is designed so that the fixed position sense of the sound image, as improved by the adjustment of the sound volume balance from the four speakers and the phase delay of the sound output, is located at the mid position of each of the four seats within the car compartment. However, at the current technical level, the user only has to select the hearing position (seat position) with the view to improve the fixed sound sense at the selected seat position. In this manner, the audio outputs from the four speakers can be adjusted in response to the selected seat position.
In such case, selection of the seat position is achieved by operating a selector e.g. a number key on the operating panel. There is no direct correlation between the seat position and the number and hence the actual practice is that the operator learns the number corresponding to the seat position by heart and accordingly performs the operation.
Consequently, for the operation of the sound field processor, the seat position to which the sound position is desired to be located cannot be known intuitively. In addition, the seat position which is the subject of the current sound field control cannot be known intuitively. As a result, the operation of the sound field processor becomes laborious.
In order to overcome such problems, it may be thought to make a display simulating the seat array in the car by arraying the seat-simulating marks, referred to herein as seat marks, in two rows by two columns, and to set the seat positions based upon the seat mark display in two rows by two columns. However, since the car-laden audio device is mounted within a narrow car space, limitations are imposed on the size of the operating panel. Also, the display region of the display unit provided in the operating panel is designed with a small size in proportion to the operating panel.
Consequently, it is physically impossible to display useful multiple marks indicating the number and title of the optical discs and the loading states of the optical discs D used for the changer operation and the four seat marks in two rows by two columns used for the sound field processor within a narrow display region of the display section, for even if these marks were displayed in the display region, the display size would be too small to be viewed easily.